Board of Directors

Senior Vice-President – International Development Natcan International Investments (National Bank of Canada)

Mr. Yves Jacquot graduated from ESSEC in France. Between 1980 and 1993, he occupied different positions, including the position of CEO in different banks and financial institutions in France, as well as in retail banking sector, investment and financial markets sectors and asset management sector.

He entered BRED Banque Populaire in 1993 and then became the deputy CEO of the Bank and CEO of COFIBRED, the holding company owning the subsidiaries of the group.

Yves was notably the supervisor of the finance, IT, all the Back offices, and the general administration departments of the bank. In addition, he took the vice-chairman position of the Credit Committees and Chairman of the Finance Committee, as well as the Risk management Committee for the subsidiaries. He supervised the prominent activities of the bank in the payment sector and was in charge of the innovation experiences.

Mr. Jacquot also promoted and managed the external growth of the Group in both France and French overseas territories in European, Asian Pacific, and African areas.

Corporate Director (National Bank of Canada)

André Bérard is a corporate director and a career banker. Mr. Bérard dedicated his entire professional life to National Bank of Canada, rising through the ranks to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank from 1989 to 2002, and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1990 to 2003. Leading up to his years at the Bank’s helm, he held several senior management positions, including Senior Vice-President and General Manager – International; Executive Vice-President – National Accounts; and Senior Executive Vice-President – Banking.

Deeply involved with the community, he has chaired many fundraising campaigns over the years.

Mr. Bérard has received numerous awards and distinctions. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1995 and an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec in 2000. In 2015, André Bérard was inducted as a Companion of the Order of the Canadian Business Hall of Fame for his enduring contributions to the country’s economy and society.

André Bérard serves on a number of corporate boards. In April 2016, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of ABA Bank.

With his career beginning at Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) while still a student at the Kazakh State Academy of Management, Damir progressed from being a part-time assistant to becoming KASE’s CEO at the age of twenty-three. After a successful eight-year career at KASE, Mr. Karassayev moved to the private sector by joining Visor Group, a private equity and investment management group in Central Asia. While at Visor Group, Damir Karassayev led and executed several successful projects outside of Visor’s home market of Central Asia, including the startup and development of two mobile operators in Nepal and Cambodia culminating in a strategic sale of both to Telia Sonera.

As the only Visor partner permanently based in Southeast Asia, Damir Karassayev had gradually transformed his relationship with Visor Group, which eventuated with his full exit from Visor and assumption of full ownership of ABA Bank in 2014.

Deputy Vice-President, International Development (National Bank of Canada)

Dominic Jacques is a graduate of HEC in Canada. He is a Chartered Accountant (CPA, CA) and a CFA Charterholder.

Mr. Jacques holds the position of Deputy Vice-President, International Development at National Bank of Canada. As such, he is responsible for managing the Bank’s portfolio of international investments as well as developing ancillary business opportunities.

Mr. Jacques started his career as an auditor at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He was appointed Senior Manager, Transaction Services in 2008. As such, he was responsible for due diligence, valuation and M&A advisory. Mr. Jacques joined National Bank of Canada in 2010 as Senior Manager in the Strategy and Corporate Development team. In this capacity, he was advising the Bank’s senior management on strategic initiatives, partnerships and M&A activities.

Mr. Jacques has a sound knowledge of the banking industry, having spent 15 years advising financial institutions on transactions and partnerships. Over the years, he has been based in Montreal, London, Paris and in the Silicon Valley (USA).

In April 2016, Mr. Jacques was appointed to the Board of Directors of ABA Bank.

David Furlong holds an MBA from the Queen’s School of Business and a Bachelor of CS from Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada). Mr. Furlong joined National Bank of Canada in 2012 and has held a number of senior-level positions including Senior Vice-President – Marketing Experience Delivery and Transformation, Senior Vice-President –International Development, Mergers and Acquisitions, and in June of 2016 he was appointed to his current role in the Transformation Office of National Bank.

David has led the implementation of many projects to support the Bank’s overall multichannel strategy, expansion strategy, and transformational agenda. Throughout his various positions, he successfully led several projects to increase the use of e-channels, analytics and process redesign while working with nationally-recognized partners.

In April 2016, David was appointed to the Board of Directors of ABA Bank.

Madi Akmambet holds an MBA with distinction from Cass Business School, City University London and a degree in Economics from Kazakh State Academy of Management.

He started his career in 1997 in Treasury Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan and then Banking Supervision Department of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Between 2000 and 2007, he held top management positions at several national companies, the Financial Institutions’ Association and JSC "Tsesnabank" in Kazakhstan. His international working experience was started in 2007 with a private equity business projects in Uzbekistan.

In March 2009, Madi was appointed CEO of ABA Bank in Cambodia, where he had led a major turnaround of the Bank. Since 2012 he has been Executive Director of the Board of Directors of ABA.

Henri Calvet is the founder of H2C CONSEIL, a company offering advisory and training services to credit institutions and securities firms, in the main following fields: banking accounting, prudential rules, internal control (including risk management and compliance control).

Prior to setting up his own business, Mr. Calvet had spent 10 years with the French Banking Commission and had later worked for numerous banks, namely, BRED-BANQUE POPULAIRE, Compagnie Financière Edmond de Rothschild Banque and Compagnie Parisienne de Reescompte, inter-alia.

A graduate from Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole des Ponts et Chaussées in France, Etienne started his career at the French Ministry of Industry (notably as head of the Foreign Investments Bureau). Etienne then joined the Air Liquide Group where he created in 1993 the first operations in China before being given responsibility of large supply contracts of industrial gases to the steel sector in Asia. After that, Etienne joined Rio Tinto where he directed the Asia Division of a subsidiary, which led him to create, develop and manage a number of operations in Singapore, Australia, China and Japan.

He then partnered with the French Private Equity firm CityStar to create their Asian Division in 2005, of which he is Partner and Director. CityStar Private Equity Asia develops today several large investment projects in Cambodia in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Etienne has been living in Asia for 21 years and is based in Singapore and Cambodia.

On May 20, 2014 Mr. Etienne was appointed as the member of the Board of Directors in ABA Bank.